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Fall 2020 Update: Snapshot as of November 1, 2020

Nikki Burnett • November 1, 2020

Educare Springfield joyously opened our doors and transitioned 141 children, their families and staff beginning January 2, 2020. A few short months later, which seem like a lifetime ago for our community, Educare closed the facility on March 13, 2020 due to the state lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  While the physical facility closed, our early learning community did not cease serving the children and families of Educare Springfield. We continued to provide services for our families, providing supports and referrals from the family service coordinators. Many families were faced with food insecurity, some required mental health referrals, and others needed learning supplies to assist their children's development. We instituted virtual classrooms for continued learning and enrichment with our Holyoke Chicopee Head Start partners.

After several months of arduously working on a reopening plan to submit to the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care for approval, we were able to welcome back a cohort of 4-year-olds to Educare on July 28. We have also very recently opened up one infant and toddler classroom. So, once again, our building is filled with young voices and the critical work of nurturing those in our care.

We are continuing to monitor local guidance and the overall public health situation to determine when and how we might be able to serve more children on-site. In the meantime, all children enrolled at Educare Springfield have access to our remote learning program and other enrichment opportunities.

Snapshot (as of November 1, 2020)


  • 94 total children currently enrolled in Educare Springfield


  • 23 children enrolled for on-site services
  • 2 Preschool classrooms
  • 1 Infant/Toddler classroom

  • 71 children enrolled in virtual services

Educare Springfield Executive Director Joins National, Local Boards

By BusinessWest • October 29, 2020
SPRINGFIELD — Nikki Burnett, executive director of Educare Springfield, the nation’s 24th Educare early-education center, has been appointed to a number of national Educare-related boards, including the Educare Learning Network (ELN) collaborative fundraising advisory board, which finds opportunities for greater financial sustainability of the ELN through enhanced fundraising programming. Burnett, the first executive director of Educare Springfield, has also joined the Red Nose Day advisory board, which provides guidance over the grant from Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day Fund on behalf of the ELN. Burnett has also joined the Educare Policy Work Group, which guides and supports the collective network’s engagement in early-childhood policy and advocacy, and the Educare Learning Network steering committee, which informs the direction of the annual meeting. Locally, Burnett has also joined a number of local serving boards, including the board of trustees of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, as well as the boards of Holyoke Community College Foundation and Dress for Success. B  urnett was raised in the Mason Square neighborhood, attended neighborhood public schools, and earned her undergraduate degree in leadership and organizational science from Bay Path University. She will be completing her master’s degree in leadership and negotiation from Bay Path in 2020. Read the full story at Businesswest.com
Paul Belsito

Paul Belsito Eyes ‘Impact Philanthropy’ As He Takes Helm At Davis Foundation ‑ Business West

By BusinessWest • August 4, 2020
Belsito said his first assignment is to understand what makes Springfield Springfield, and it is ongoing. From there, his job is to pull people together — something the Davis Foundation has always been good at it — and, when possible, move the needle. He’s made it a career to take on such work, and he’s more than excited about what the next chapter might bring. Read the full story at Business West

One People, One House: We all need to ‘stretch’ to bring about lasting change

By Masslive • August 2, 2020
Editor’s note: This is part of The Republican’s One People, One House community dialogue series sharing perspectives on the issues of racism and policing: We are advised to stretch before jogging or running a race to warm up our muscles and increase flexibility. Without stretching there is weakness and inability to extend all the way. Some stretches are tight and painful, and a trainer will encourage us to continue to move into the discomfort and hold there. After holding the stretch for a few seconds (which ultimately feels like an eternity), the muscles have loosened, feel limber and are ready to conquer the track ahead. We are in times where humanity is running the race FOR its life. It is incumbent upon all of us to get in the starting block and commit to the finish line. Jeremy Heimans, in his TedTalk, “What New Power Looks Like,” tells us that we need “the deployment of mass participation and peer coordination to create change and shift outcomes.” I am experiencing an exponential increase in opportunities to have discussions about race, politics and history in my personal and professional life.  Read the full story at Masslive.com
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